Month: May 2017

Womens Robert Golden Jersey Vin Scully retired after last season, which is sad. But his body of work is a gift that will keep on giving. You probably didn’t even know there was a recording of Scully calling Kirby Puckett’s famous walkoff homer in Game 6 of the 1991 World Series, did you? And Charlie Liebrandt has turned the lights out in the Metrodome again. Ouch, Vin.

Athlete skills exhibitions were a staple of sports TV in the ’80s. Ever wanted to see the Reds’ Gary Redus battle the Braves’ Dale Murphy in an obscure, NBC-sponsored home run derby narrated by Bob Costas in 1984? Here ya go!

Marlins stars Christian Yelich and Giancarlo Stanton both had monster games in a 10-5 loss to the Mariners. Yelich, who has been on fire this week, went 3 for 5 with a home run, two RBIs and two runs scored. Stanton went 3 for 3 with a solo home run and two walks.

Unfortunately for Miami fans, Mitch Haniger went 3 for 4 with three runs scored, four RBIs and a walk to help the Mariners win.

Womens Terrence Ross Jersey Cardinals outfielder Dexter Fowler broke out of his massive slump by collecting three hits with two solo home runs in a 2-1 win over the Pirates. Fowler is still hitting just .183 this season.

Authentic Youth Paul George Jersey Executives are not allowed to interview active coaches before their postseason duties conclude. This sets up an uneven playing field, as rising assistants from ousted teams have the advantage of setting up their franchise rebuild several weeks ahead of their peers. While that extra time fails to impact player signings, it does allow these new head coaches to stock their coaching staffs and pull in other sought-after assistants before some franchises even have their new leaders installed.

While the reform would have been a small one, the league’s prohibition on negotiating with postseason-participating assistants typically affects the coaching market. It may have played a role in the Patriots retaining their coordinators in 2017. Top assistants Josh McDaniels and Matt Patricia were widely considered strong candidates for the multitude of open jobs this offseason, but neither left Foxborough. That worked out well for New England — it kept the core of a championship coaching nucleus intact.

Now, there will be just one deadline.Authentic Youth Germain Ifedi Jersey
Previously, the first set of cuts was scheduled prior to the fourth preseason game. The change allows teams to carry 90 players into the final preseason contest, giving them more time to evaluate those players.

This season, the preseason wraps up on Sept. 1. Teams will be required to get rosters down to 53 no later than 4 p.m. ET on Sept. 3.

Dallas ought to be the favorites to win the NFC East again, and Irving’s situation isn’t nearly as dire as Gregory’s. However, they keep losing important role players to drug suspensions on the defensive line, and that lack of depth was a consistent weakness for the team in 2016. The Cowboys will surely hope that first-round draft pick Taco Charlton can be an immediate contributor.

If you thought the Buffalo Bills drafted East Carolina receiver Zay Jones to just be a compliment to Sammy Watkins, think again.

The Bills may not have just used their second-round pick on Jones to give the Bills a No. 2 wide receiver, Jones could be Buffalo’s top target sooner than many expected.

According to The Buffalo News’ Vic Carucci, the Bills are “unlikely” to pick up Watkins’ fifth-year option on his rookie contract by the May 2 deadline. The team is reportedly uncomfortable committing to Watkins for a fifth year because he’s recovering from offseason foot surgery. Carucci broke the news shortly after Buffalo selected Jones.

That doesn’t mean Watkins’ days in Buffalo are numbered, the team can still negotiate a long-term deal or place the franchise tag on him. Still, picking up Watkins’ fifth-year option is the cheapest course of action to keep him there beyond the 2017 season.

To select Jones, the Bills moved up seven spots by trading with the LA Rams to move up from No. 44 to No. 37. The Rams received the Bills’ third rounder, and Buffalo received Los Angeles’ fourth rounder in the exchange.

Bills coach Sean McDermott denied that trading up to pick Jones has anything to do with Watkins’ future.

“It doesn’t, it doesn’t at all,” McDermott told reporters. “Sammy’s a good football player and these are two separate silos.”

Buffalo used two first-round picks and a fourth-round pick to trade up and draft Watkins in 2014. Since then, Watkins has battled through a number of ailments, including broken ribs, a groin injury, hip injury, calf injury and a broken foot.

His production has been decent in his three-year career, but not exactly what the Bills were hoping for when they took a gamble on Watkins over other first-round receivers Odell Beckham Jr., Mike Evans and Brandin Cooks.

Boston scored a run in the top of the ninth to snag a 1-0 lead, meaning Sale was in line to get the individual pitcher win, too. But closer Craig Kimbrel, who had been brilliant himself this season, gave up a home run to Kendrys Morales in the bottom of the ninth that tied the game. Boston rallied with three runs in the top of the 10th, meaning Kimbrel earned the individual pitcher win.

That makes absolutely no sense, of course.

If we were starting from scratch, there’s zero chance any rational baseball fan would look at Sale’s effort and Kimbrel’s effort and decide that Kimbrel deserved the individual pitcher victory.

Game Mens Kris Dunn Jersey But, of course, this takes work on the part of MLB — and MLB needs to recognize this, rather than placing its hopes for growth on tweaks that won’t make much difference in the end.

Last season, receiver Jordan Matthews suffered a big hit by Falcons linebacker Keanu Neal. There was no foul on the play, but Neal was fined $24,000 by the league later that week. In an effort to better define what’s legal, the Eagles proposed the following: Expands the crown of helmet foul to include hairline part of helmet.

This explains the hit on Matthews last season pretty well as Neal took the top of his helmet and hit the receiver in the facemask.

The hit was so hard that the Eagles had to replace the facemask on Matthews because it was bent so much.

They got a little help Thursday in the bottom of the 13th inning for a 5-4 walk-off win over the Phillies.Marshal Yanda Game Jersey
After Matt Szczur hit a potential double-play ball to Phillies second baseman Cesar Hernandez, the relay throw from shortstop Freddy Galvis was wide of first base. The error allowed Albert Almora Jr., who led off the inning with a double, to score from the second and send Wrigley Field into a frenzy.

Authentic Womens Robyn Regehr Jersey Terry Francona isn’t one to dwell on the past, even though he was named AL Manager of the Year this past season and his club won the AL Central en route to a World Series appearance.

While the past includes the Indians’ extra-inning loss to the Cubs in Game 7 of the World Series, Francona admitted Tuesday he hasn’t watched a second of the game.

Elite Reshad Jones Jersey I don’t spend a lot of time on what has already happened, he told reporters. It doesn’t do any good.

It doesn’t do Francona any good predicting what will happen this season, but the Tribe are in great shape to return to the World Series.

Cap’n Jetes took it in stride, as he does, and we’re sure he was able to quickly laugh this off in short order.

It might have been slightly less amusing for him to learn his group is trailing in the bidding for the Marlins. The South Florida Sun Sentinel reported Tuesday evening that a group led by one of Mitt Romney’s sons and which includes Hall of Famer Tom Glavine had bid slightly more than the $1.3 billion offered by the group that includes Jeter and is led by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

We have no idea how much cash Jeter has pledged toward the sale, but any additional funds figure to be substantial if a bidding war is going on.

Earlier in the day, Bush expressed confidence (per The New York Times) his group would soon finalize an agreement to buy the franchise from Jeffrey Loria. Was that confidence just posturing, or are we really nearing a resolution?

Jeter’s accustomed to winning, in baseball and in life. Come-from-behind victories are routine. Looks like he’ll need another one to fulfill his wish of being an owner. Then maybe he can go back on CNBC and clown everybody there.

Yes, Howard was a terrific need, value and luxury pick at No. 19 with the good fortune of so many teams deciding not to take the uber-athletic tight end. Evans can be a good strong safety, but other than that, there were some questionable position picks and reaches. Good thing the Bucs are already set to push for a playoff spot.Louis Lipps Game JerseyAlexander Mogilny Game Jersey He’s definitely smart enough to expand that. Scott has good hands and the slot receiver could be a nice pickup early on the final day of the draft. UPDATE: Scott has signed with the Chargers, who drafted Clemson receiver Mike Williams in the first round.

Ben Boulware, LB, Clemson Boulware may be a bit undersized at 6 feet and 236 pounds, but he is a passionate natural leader who was extremely productive at Clemson with 116 tackles last season for the national champions. His superior football IQ and instincts help compensate for limited athleticism. Boulware can still get sideline to sideline and takes excellent angles to the ball. He’s a very coachable player who may not measure out well, but is just a damn good football player. UPDATE: Boulware has signed with the Panthers.

Darius English, DE, South Carolina English is tall and lanky at 6-6, 245, and a natural pass rusher. He has a quick first step, but hasn’t yet converted his speed to power and is not that great against the run. He’s a bit of a one-year wonder with 60 tackles last season, to nearly match his career total prior to his senior year. His 13 tackles for loss were more than his 11 stops behind the line before 2016 and he had nine sacks last year after registering just six in the previous three years. UPDATE: English has signed with the Falcons.

Many things can be said about Chad Kelly. On the field he has a powerful arm and expresses great leadership skills. Off the field … not so much.

The former Ole Miss quarterback has seen plenty off off-field issues and drama, which likely contributed to him being the last player picked at the 2017 NFL Draft. This year’s Mr. Irrelevant will be suiting up for the Broncos behind quarterbacks Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch, but his uncle, former Bills great Jim Kelly, told him not to worry about being the star of the team.

I told Chad, ‘Don’t worry about going in there and thinking you’re going to compete for that starting job,’ Jim Kelly told ESPN.com on Thursday. The bottom line is, you gotta go there and get healthy, learn the system and be humble. And I think he’s finally got it. He understands that.

Elite Womens Garret Sparks Jersey According to Jim Kelly, Broncos manager John Elway called him about Chad and whether it was a good idea to draft him. Kelly said his nephew is a good kid, which led to Elway taking a chance on the embattled quarterback.Elite Womens Kayvon Webster Jersey
I can’t go into all the details, but he wanted to know a little bit about Chad, and I told him, Kelly said. And I said a lot of things that have happened have been three years ago. Sooner or later, people got to forget about that. I understand, you got to bring things up. Some of the stuff to me, totally [has been] blown up.

Chad Kelly first made headlines in 2014, when he was dismissed from Clemson’s football team for butting heads with coaches. A year later, he pleaded guilty to a non-criminal disorderly charge after he got into a heated argument with bouncers at a Buffalo bar. And last year he was caught in a high school football brawl when his brother was playing.

In basketball years, the six seasons that the Los Angeles Clippers core has spent together feels like an eternity. They’ve reached a crossroads this summer, with three players reaching free agency and another first-round exit to show for it.

But the team staying together for this long isn’t merely a product of circumstance.

“Steven, second time in three games you guys really struggled when Russell went to the bench. You were out there for part of that, what goes on when he goes to the bench? Why is Houston so successful, and do you sense that they get an energy boost just from him going out of the game?”
… was therefore a valid one, given that the biggest narrative of the season has been Russ The Lone Warrior: Thunder Road.

And Westbrook’s reaction showed that the reporter clearly hit a nerve. Russ grabbed the mic before Adams could respond, and said this:

“I don’t want nobody trying to split us up, we are one team … we’re in this together, don’t try to make us go against each other. I don’t want to hear that.”
Then he said “next question” five times as the reporter kept trying to ask Adams why the Thunder were bad without Russ. You think Westbrook would’ve freaked out like that if he hadn’t been hyper-sensitive to the situation already? No. But he’s entitled to this reaction. He never says the reporter is wrong, he just says that he isn’t going to sit there and say nothing while the reporter perpetuates a narrative that would be divisive to his team.

I don’t like the media attention. That’s why this job is just so tough because you’re out in front all the time, Lue said. It’s tough because whatever you say, if you say one wrong thing — especially leading this team — it goes viral. It’s a big deal.

Game Womens Adam Gotsis Jersey That’s why I know that the media has to do what they have to do, because when you rest him, they cry, ‘Oh, he should play! [Michael] Jordan would never sit!’ And then you play him 42 minutes: ‘He’s playing too much!’ Like, what? So if you don’t play, you mad. If you play too much, you mad. … And I’ve come to the realization that it is what it is. That’s why I just try to tune the outside noise out.

Regardless of his challenges, Lue coached Cleveland to a 51-31 record, tied with the Raptors for second-best in the East and trailing only the top-seeded Boston Celtics. The Cavaliers swept the Pacers in the first round and dispatched the Raptors in Game 1 of the second round, 116-105.

Cleveland is the prohibitive favorite to emerge as Eastern Conference champions and make a third consecutive NBA Finals appearance. So Lue’s issues, while very real in his world, are relative when compared to other coaches who may be on the hot seat across the league.Game Womens Cyrus Kouandjio Jersey
There’s already been so much hype about Ball to the Lakers, but it’s possible Josh Jackson makes even more sense given the roster. The Lakers need a defensive complement Brandon Ingram and D’Angelo Russell and also someone who can help set them up. That’s Jackson. He’s one of the best athletes and competitors in this class and should be able to make an impact from day one defensively. On offense, his playmaking ability separates him from the other wings in this class.

The Clippers were in an elimination Game 6 on the road to the Utah Jazz on Friday night. It wasn’t just any elimination game though, the future of the entire Clippers organization depended on it in a way. The game remained close until late in the fourth when an Austin Rivers three-pointer broke it open putting the Clippers up 91-79 with just over three minutes to go.

The instances before the end of game four where Leonard started a possession on Harden were when the Spurs went with a lineup of Patty Mills, Manu Ginobili, Kawhi and two of their big men, Aldridge, Pau Gasol or David Lee. These were often short stretches in the second or third quarter and this match up was forced by on-court personnel, not an attempt to ice Harden.

The Spurs seem to find more value in having Leonard mobile or entirely swallowing up another Rockets player than stuck to Harden.

The Rockets react to this by leaving Leonard’s man out of the pick-and-roll Game Marshawn Lynch Jersey action and trying to hide them both in the corner as much as possible. And in the instances where Leonard gets switched on to Harden, it’s not an instant solution because the Beard is already moving with a head of steam and denies Leonard the ability to control the possession.

Game four was a problem. Leonard switched on to Harden with six minutes Game Teddy Bridgewater Jersey left in the third quarter and the Spurs down seven. Leonard’s best defensive effort against Harden in these minutes was when Harden attempted to pass from above the foul line.

Leonard’s so smart and so freaking long he anticipates Harden’s decisions and disrupts passes when he picks up his dribble. There’s no space for Harden’s pocket passes or even a split second for Harden to pick up his dribble without a predetermined plan of action.